INTER STATES Updates – Solstice 2016

I have been silent for a while to the slowly expanding circle of Inter States readers – my apologies – but I have not been idle.  I am working on the 3rd book (no working title yet) for 2017 publication through Founders House.  I have a very busy life with my solar development work, 6-member family, and various community commitments.  And, as you may know, I put a great deal of time into the Bernie Sanders presidential campaign during 2016, canvassing in 6 states, and continue to work on the progressive political front.

FOR BOOK #3

As you can imagine, the presidential election process and everything happening now surrounding Trump, his appointees, Wikileaks and alleged Russian hacks and election manipulation, the “alt-Right” and more have given be a LOT to digest and play with.  I hope I succeed in informing Book 3 with my insights.

MAKING SENSE

It is very hard to make sense of what is currently going on.  I had the privilege of being in Philadelphia at the Democratic National Convention as a Sanders volunteer, and of experiencing the drama and manipulation first-hand.  I stood near Keith Ellison gathering delegate signatures on the morning the Wikileaks DNC emails were revealed.  The day before, I was in a meeting with a large group of Bernie volunteers when the dramatic news of Debbie Wasserman-Schultz’s resignation was announced.  I marched in the searingly hot streets with Jill Stein, Chris Hedges, and thousands of other protestors as Bernie was figuratively knifed and his candidates and volunteers excluded from the tele-manipulated Convention.

INSIGHTS

But just being there and being exposed to news – fake or otherwise – does not automatically guarantee insight.  I continue to struggle with that.  But here are a few points I would like to share, for what they are worth.  Look for traces of them in my fiction:

– As Bernie has been warning us, Oligarchy is surging and is increasingly beyond dispute, powerful, and dangerous.

– Oligarchy is not monolithic; the Houses of Clinton, of Bush, of Rothschild, of Edelman, of Buffet, of Walton, of Koch, etc. do not necessarily have the same interests.  The House of Trump is rocketing in its power and significance!  In Inter States Book 3, the fuzzy outlines of the ‘Garchs become more defined, and consequential.

– (BTW, the addition of the “of” preposition feels oddly fitting for a new American aristocracy.  So, “Donald of Trump,” “Hillary of Clinton,” etc.  I like it!  “Lady Ivanka of Trump.”  Stranger than fiction…

– Under Trump, a resurgence and expansion of the political power of the fossil fuel industry – on the defensive for decades – makes the Energy Trust scenario in Inter States seem less implausible, especially if you consider the lost time it represents for any kind of response to global warming.  We are fiddling while Rome burns.

– My depiction of the Homeland Front in Inter States sometime felt corny and implausible to me.  Really, Nazis in rural Virginia?!  But with Trump and his alt-Right supporters, and the way the nation is responding, it does not feel far-fetched at all.  Too tame, if anything.  So look for a more determined treatment of that in Book 3.

– Foreign powers can and will play a growing role in America’s domestic affairs.  We’re not used to that, but we’re growing weaker and more divided, and it’s a natural consequence.  Inter States was not so far off after all…

– With Trump’s rise, the real Vermont secession movement is alive and well.  Look for development of that in Book 3.

EVENTS

Here are come upcoming events I hope to see you at:

– December 20, noon: Brown Bag Lunch at the River Garden in Brattleboro, Vermont

– January 20 (Inauguration Day), 7:30 PM: Book discussion at The Public Option pub, Washington, DC. Conveniently located near Capitol Hill, so when you are all finished protesting and narrowly avoiding arrest, come on up to Rhode Island Avenue and get a decent meal and a great craft brew while we retreat from reality into the comforting escape of fiction!

That’s all for now.  Have a safe and pleasant holiday period, just ahead, and look for Book 3 in 2017!

Ralph

REVIEWS

PS – By the way, please post your comments and reviews of the Inter States books wherever you feel comfortable: blogs, Goodreads, Amazon, etc.  Right now, there’s just one (bad) review at Amazon, and I don’t think it’s entirely fair.